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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. land — to come down
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. rash — a series
  7. scale — in music
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. scale — size or range
  10. land — ground
  11. date — the fruit
  12. club — for golf
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. snap — to click
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. rash — hasty
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. land — a country
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. club — for dancing
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. rush — hurry

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com